Korean War - IB History

What was agreed between the Allies in 1945 regarding Korea?

The Potsdam Declaration stated the Korea pennisula was to be independent and free from Japanese rule.

What was the North Korean government like?

- Was militarily occupied by the Soviets

- Guerilla leader Kim Il Sung was in power

- He wanted to expel foreign influence in Korea

- People's committees distributed land and food

What was the South Korean government like?

- USA claimed all the land south of the 38th parallel

- Syngman Rhee lead, he was strongly against communism and had an American education which was favoured by the Americans.

- However he was a brutal dictator, the USA only kept him because he acted as a ballast against Soviets

-No people's committees as the USA was suspicious that they might be North Korean spies

NSC-68 (1950)

- A secret document that emphasised that the US should continue to provide substantial funding for the military to prevent Soviet expansion.

- It was very important as it portrayed US attitudes towards the Soviet Union.

- It viewed the world as bi-polar terms.

- It introduced the policy of Rollback

Significance of the Pacific Perimeter Speech (1950)

- Dean Archeson (US secretary of state) gave a speech outlining foreign policies in the pacific.

- He didn't mention Korea so Stalin assumed it was not in the US sphere of influence.

- This led Stalin to commence with his invasion of South Korea

Rollback

Policy of containing and pushing back communism to a safe/manageable size.

Korean War dates

1950-53

When was the 38th parallel created?

When Japan surrendered in August 1945, the 38th parallel was established as the boundary between Soviet and American occupation zones. This parallel divided the Korean peninsula roughly in the middle.

Map of Korea

1st stage of the Korean War

Invasion and Inchon

2nd Stage of Korean War

Chinese Intervention

3rd stage of the Korean War

Stalemate at Panmunjom

Significance of the Korean War

- The first hot war of the Cold War

- Proxy war

- The possibility of using nuclear weapons was first introduced

- It divided the country permanently

- It showed the strengths of the UN

- China was involved and demonstrated sino-soviet co-operation

- The Cold war was moved to Asia

Effects of the war today on Korea

- Million civilians died in the War

- Hundreds of civilians die trying to cross the North Korean border

- The country is still strongly divided with a dictatorship in the North and free elections in the South

The effects on China

-Mao used the war to support the Communist revolution in the PRC

- By the time the war was over, the society and politics of the PRC had radically changed

- Mao used the PRC victories of the war to promote the strengths of the PRC.

Effects on the USSR and Sino-Soviet relations

- Sino-Soviet relations improved significantly as Mao and Stalin consulted on key decisions in the war

- However Mao began to resent Stalin's opportunism when China had to pay excessive military costs

Effects on Western Europe

- Caused rearmament programmes in Western Germany

- Strengthened NATO

- This was opposite to the interests of the USSR who wanted Germany to remain weak as it was seen as a crucial buffer zone for the USSR

Effects on the US

- Strengthened the arguments of the NSC : That communism posed a co-ordinated threat to the US.

- Had a rearmament programme which tripled the US's military budget

- Stationed US troops permanently in West Germany

- In 1954 SEATO was formed with other alliances to contain communism

- In 1955 the Baghdad pact of CENTO was created to protect the Middle East from Soviet invasion